James Isaac Sabogal (right) resting on a bench at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

James Isaac Sabogal (right) resting on a bench at Harvey Milk Plaza...

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Sergeant Limbert chatting with people at at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Sergeant Limbert chatting with people at at Harvey Milk Plaza in...

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Producer and musician Rom (middle) from New York playing his guitar at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., with another homeless person James Isaac Sabogal (left) looking on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. At top right is department of public works getting ready to hose the plaza.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Producer and musician Rom (middle) from New York playing his guitar...

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Department of Public works hosing Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Department of Public works hosing Harvey Milk Plaza in San...

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Christopher O. checking out a whirlybird from the ground at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. He is at Harvey Milk plaza to check the local feel before thinking of spending a night. At far left (not seen) is a homeless person talking to another.

On a recent sunny morning in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, a smattering of the city's homeless relaxed on the benches at Harvey Milk Plaza.

Two wheelchairs covered in clothing were parked near two slumbering people wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets. A disheveled young woman and man sat chatting, and nearby, a middle-aged gentleman strummed his guitar next to two backpacks and a sleeping roll.

A public works employee showed up with steam hose in hand, but found the bench occupants unwilling to move. She was forced to clean another part of the plaza as the nomads casually passed the morning.

Harvey Milk Plaza has become a refuge for transients. Street dwellers call it a safe and carefree place to be with their friends.

The magnet is the purple benches that wrap gracefully around half of the plaza. They were installed in 2010 to make the area more inviting, but instead became a way for drifters to evade the city's ban on sitting and lying on sidewalks.

The plaza, which was dedicated in 1985 to the memory of the slain supervisor, is not considered a park where police can enforce park codes. There is no law prohibiting loitering. As long as the transients remain on the benches, they circumvent the city's sit/lie ordinance, said Officer Carlos Manfredi, a police spokesman who used to patrol the area.

Semi-secluded area

The split-level plaza is located at the entrance to the Castro Muni station and is tucked along the Diesel store at the intersection of Market, Castro and 17th streets.

The benches face the walkway leading to the lower level and are blocked off from Market Street by retaining walls and planters, providing a semi-secluded area for the homeless. The location above the Castro Muni station gives street people a steady flow of passengers to ask for handouts.

"It's a constant battle that we deal with," Manfredi said. "There's no law that prohibits them from sitting there unless they're aggressively panhandling, defecating, having open containers (of alcohol) - if they're not doing anything like that, we don't have the right to tell them to move."

Police say they routinely respond to complaints about the loiterers.

The nomads have made the plaza so unwelcoming that Andrea Aiello, executive director of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, said her agency is discussing removing or altering the benches. A plan should be ready by November, Aiello said.

'No. 2 after nudity'

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro, said the homeless presence at Harvey Milk Plaza was "No. 2 after nudity" in terms of complaints he receives from constituents. Wiener introduced a measure banning camping in the Castro neighborhood plazas, which the Board of Supervisors approved in January.

The ban, which went into effect in March, applies the city's park codes prohibiting camping and sleeping during certain hours in the plaza.

Wiener said that because the benches are the benefit district's responsibility, the decision to remove or modify them is up to is up that agency.

But he said he thinks the long-term answer is making the plaza more open and inviting. A redesign, he said, could help the plaza attract "a broader cross-section of the community."

"When you open it up, sure, there will be homeless people there, but there will be a lot of other people there, meeting their friends and having a cup of coffee," Wiener said. "The homeless people won't be the dominant thing in the plaza, like they are right now."

The redesign is still in discussion, and organizers would need to find the money to pay for it if one is approved.

What's not working

Issue: Harvey Milk Plaza is populated by transients who get around San Francisco's sit/lie ban by taking over the benches for long periods.

What's been done: The Board of Supervisors passed legislation prohibiting camping in the plaza. The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District is considering removing or altering the benches. Police have increased their presence there, but can step in only when someone breaks the law.

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